Hating You Is What I Know
by s2rocks
Summary: I am intelligent. I mean, am not a nerd but smart. I can jump from 20 feet high and will never ever refuse a dare. I have self-preserving quality and a snapping mouth. But, I just don't understand, why I am in Hufflepuff? The sorting hat is joking, right?(Previously called Its Better To Hate)
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/n: All characters belong to J K Rowling except my original characters and the plot.  
This story actually got deleted, so I am going to restart it with some modification. I would love some appreciation and support. * Reviews!***

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**Hating You Is What I Know**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

Everyone becomes nervous when they start something fresh and new, and I am no exception.

I am an early riser. I love to watch the sunrise. It gives me the thrill to start each day as new and unique. I am very excited and maybe a little bit of anxious.

_This is too early._

Okay, I am losing my mind and I am awake at only four AM.

I know I said I am an early riser, but I had never woken up at four am in my life.

I am nervous and freaking out; today is the day that I will enter a whole new world and start an adventure. It'll probably be a tough journey - my journey to become a witch.

_Witch?_

_What is that?_

That was the first question that came into my mind when I heard the word for the first time. I am a muggleborn, so these types of things are new to me. It was a big surprise when Professor Chang came to our house and informed us that I was a witch, even though she came last year to tell us that my brother was a wizard.

_Why?_

Because it's not very common for muggleborn siblings to be admitted to Hogwarts, but here we are –my brother, Alexander Mattrick Feather, and I are both magical.

I am very excited to study at Hogwarts ever since my elder brother went to study last year. When he came back after his first year, he was really happy. He told me all about Hogwarts and the fun he had there. He told me about his friends, the pranks he played with them, teachers, classes, Quidditch, and everything else. I was fascinated by his thoughts and his tales of Hogwarts.

I wanted that. I wanted to go and study there, just like him. I wanted to make close friends, just like him. It's not like I didn't have friends - but there were always some differences.

I never felt close to them. I was some sort of freak to them. I was teased and made fun of many times in my primary school.

So I changed myself. I acted bold and never let others know about my problems and insecurities. Only to my brother and mum am I an open book. It is easier to hide things from my mum because she is rarely home, but my brother is not one to be easily fooled. He has always been there for me. He can read me in a second.

Looking out of window, I am wishing with all of my heart for my brother to be here with me so he can support me and assure me that everything is going to be alright. I will fit in perfectly with new people, and I have nothing to worry about.

But he isn't.

He wants me to be stronger and start on my own as he did, facing the world with courage. He knew I was strong-willed and stubborn when I wanted something. So he went to his new best friend's house two days before the first of September. Maybe he wanted to have fun there with James bloody Potter.

Hell, I know he is famous because his father is Harry Potter, aka the Wizarding hero, but that doesn't mean he can steal my brother from me.

_God, he was the one thing that my brother talked about._

According to Alex, James is the best thing in the world. Okay, I might be exaggerating, but he was all that my brother talked about the whole summer. James and I pulled off this prank, James did this, James did that.

_There are James and Alex now, no Alex and Evie._

Our mother worked hard all of her life so that she could provide us with basic necessities. She was never home for long periods of time. Her work permitted her to take few holidays; my brother and I were on our own.

I watched as the sun started rising, spreading red tints in the sky and the darkness converted into the light. I am going crazy with all this thinking.

I made my way to the washroom to carry out my daily routine and looked at the girl in the mirror. She is pale with a small frame and light brown, shoulder-length hair. I was never into any kind of makeup; I never actually cared about my appearance.

I want people to like me the way I am. I am nothing special, just plain-Jane, but my eyes always give me the confidence I carry on my sleeves. I have same light green eyes as my brother, and I love them. They always make me feel safe and sure. We inherited them from our mother .

I returned to my room and looked around. It's simple but neat. There is a comfortable bed on the right side, while on the left side there is a closet containing my clothes and belongings. There is a table where my trunk is placed right now and a chair and bookstands which were filled with books, most of which are currently sitting in my trunk. I am not a bookworm who always has their head shoved in a book, but I love to read.

I love to learn new things. Discovering something new gives me a thrill.

My walls are my favorite color-green. My brother told me that it's the color of Slytherin house, and that was where all the worst wizards were sorted, but I still like the color.

I bind my hair in a ponytail and trudge down to our living room. Mum wakes up early, and it is very hard to wake her up. She's a heavy sleeper. I walk to the kitchen and start making scrambled eggs and coffee for her. I make toast for myself and, by the time I'm almost finished, mum comes downstairs.

"Good morning, Evie! Ready for the big day?" she asks me with a huge smile, already aware of my excitement.

"Yup," I reply with an emphasis on the "p."

"Of great Evangeline is always ready," she jokes, winking at me.

"Mum, don't use my full name," I whine.

My name is _Evangeline Nightingale Feather._

I don't know what the hell my mum was thinking when she named me.

Never ever call me by my full name; it's too sweet for my liking. You can call me Evie or Eve, but not Evangeline unless you want a kick in the ass.

We eat breakfast and I prepare for the trip to Hogwarts. I quickly shower, pulling on my favorite green T-shirt and light blue jeans. This T-shirt is my lucky charm. I always wear it when I start something new or when I am nervous about something. I carry my trunk downstairs and wait for mom to get ready.

My Mum has to be on time when she arrives at work. I was actually surprised that she was home this morning, but she worked late last night, so I guess she has some free time off this morning. She was planning to drop me off at the King Cross and after depart immediately for work. It was no big deal; I always liked to be early and I could choose an empty compartment while I waited for an hour until departure time.

I place my trunk in the car and wait for Mum to come. My cat, Snow, is sitting on my shoulder. She is a cute little cat with white fur and bright blue eyes. She is very moody and doesn't seem to like many people. I loved her from the moment I saw her, and I decided almost instantaneously that I was going to buy her from the pet shop.

We reach the station and mum carries my trunk to platform 9. My brother had already informed me of how to reach platform 9 ¾.

"OK sweet heart, take care of yourself and your brother. You know how he is," mum tells me, trying to smooth out my t-shirt.

"OK, mum, I will. I love you," I hug her, knowing I am going to miss her.

"Love you too. Don't forget to write! Oh, and tell your brother to behave," she says as she hugs me tightly.

My brother was a trouble maker. Last year, we received three letters from the headmistress regarding his numerous pranks and detentions.

"OK, bye mum," I call as I push my trunk toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

I run towards the wall, passing through it and entering platform 9 ¾, only to smack headfirst into someone.

_Wow, my great start. Note the sarcasm._

^^````^^

But I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I crossed that barrier and made my journey to Hogwarts. I didn't know that these seven years were going to change everything.

I didn't know that my past was going to crash on me hard, and I would have to face the reality of my life, which would leave me with nothing but pain.

I would meet the one person I hated the most, who changed my childhood with his single decision and made me behave the way I do now, who would change my life all over again.

I would find the one who would help me find the power within me and would vanish all the darkness and sorrow of my heart. I would lose everything just to get him. Just to be with him. I didn't know that my journey to get him would be so difficult.

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**Well let me know what you think with your reviews as to whether you like this or not – really appreciate all feedback.**


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting Malfoys

** Disclaimer: All Characters Belong To Harry Potter and Of course J K Rowling, only Ocs are my own.**

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**Chapter 2: Meeting Malfoys**

I gasped loudly, immediately wanting to shut my mouth as soon as I realized the sound I made. I had accidentally smacked into someone and then ran away, mumbling a "sorry" without looking at them, not wanting to be scolded like a six-year-old. I only caught a glimpse of blonde hair but hurried past, wanting to see the station.

_It was like stepping into a different world._

Well, it was different, *Muggleborn here.*

A giant 4-6-0 red steam engine was puffing away near the entrance, the Hogwarts crest upon the side of each carriage. The engine's head plaque was engraved on the top of the watch, which also bore the engine number: 5972. On the reverse side, the school crest and motto: Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.

_Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon? What kind of a motto was that?_

The feeling of being there was great. It seemed real. I was really going to do this. I was going to Hogwarts. This sensation was greater than that of when I bought my wand.

Let's just say it was definitely different. My brother warned me that Ollivander was a strange bloke. He could be creepy at times. At the time, I thought he was predicting something, but then laughed at my own stupidity. True Seers in the Wizarding World were very rare. I would have said that they were myths if I didn't know about Hogwarts. But now, anything could be real.

"Twelve inches silver lime wand containing Thestral tail hair," Ollivander had said when the wand chose me. I could remember the visit vividly.

_It's a rare combination, Miss Feather. The core is very difficult to obtain, very unstable and not easy to control. This wand has been with me for years. I was looking forward to meet the one who would get this. The wand chooses the wizard, Miss Feather, and this wand has chosen you. This wand is best for charms and transfiguration. It is also very powerful. Use it well. _

There was a gleam in his eyes when I looked at him, telling me he knew something that I didn't.

_  
_But even with his extensive knowledge about my wand and his warning of its power, it was fairly expensive. A whole ten Galleons.

My brother's wand cost only _eight_.

I hadn't used it, of course. That would be violating the underage magic rule – and I couldn't do much without knowledge of any spells. A fat load of help that would be, getting expelled before I even stepped into Hogwarts. But that didn't mean I didn't hold it in my hand trying to get in my best hold.

I dragged my trunk towards the train. Not many people were on the platform because I was an hour early. I tried to lift my trunk onto the train, but it was far too heavy for me. I sighed and tried again.

"Here," came a voice from behind me.

I watched a blond-haired man lifting my trunk as if the weight was nothing for him.

He was quite tall, around 6 feet 2 inches, with steel grey eyes which were trained on me when he turned. They were warm and welcoming. He knew he looked good, too. You could see it in his eyes. I could tell you that in his younger days, girls would fall at his feet for him to give them a little bit of attention. Looking closer and noticing the same shade of blonde, I realized he was the one whom I smacked into earlier.

"Thanks for the help. My name is Evie Feather." I moved forward to shake his hand.

He arched an eyebrow, looking at my hand, then shook it, replying with a smirk, "I'm Draco Malfoy."

So, this was the infamous Draco Malfoy... But he was so different compared to what was written in the history books. He was supposed to be arrogant and cold.

"Sorry for running into you earlier," I said, pointing at the entrance and he followed my gaze and shrugged.

"You are a Muggleborn." I knew it wasn't a question by the way he said it. He knew I was.

I nodded. I could tell that he was not used to people talking nicely to him on their first meeting. Old prejudices had ruined the Malfoy name, even if he had contributed a great deal to the reconstruction of Hogwarts after the war. People still saw him as the one who tried to kill Albus Dumbledore.

But they always forget that he failed to kill him when he had the chance. That he didn't want to do it anyways.

These were the words Harry Potter had told the writer of the History book.

"Just because I'm a Muggleborn doesn't mean that I'm not aware of who you are." My words were meant to shock him. They did.

He was taken aback but replied, amusement clear in his voice, "Really?"

"I love to read, but – I am_ not_ a bookworm," I added when he coughed something that sounded a lot like "bookworm." Ignoring him, I continued, "My brother gave me his old textbooks, so I know a little about some things. That was your past and today is your present, which will make your future." I had heard that in a movie and remembered it from then on.

_Well, I forgot the name of movie, but at least I remembered the saying._

"You are quite different. Brave and believing," he replied, staring at me as if I was a puzzle for him.

"I know I am, but I don't want to be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw," I told him giving him a small glare and getting a grin in return.

"You want to be a Slytherin?" he asked with a bemused smile, knowing that I was not Hufflepuff material.

"Yup! Green is my favourite colour, so why not?" I didn't just want to be in Slytherin because green was my favourite colour, even if I looked good in it. Slytherins were about self-preservation which, I thought, I totally qualified for.

_Maybe._

"Draco, what's taking you so..." A sweet woman with blond hair came to stand with us. She was looking very beautiful in her purple robes, and she watched me with curious eyes.

_She probably knows I was that stupid girl who smacked into her husband._

She stared at me longer, expecting me to introduce myself. "Hi! I'm Evie and this is my cat, Snow," I obliged. However she raised her eyebrow at me, like her husband had, as if expecting me to properly introduce myself.

_I needed to learn this eyebrow thing. They look intimidating and it's kind of cool._

"My name is Evangeline Nightingale Feather," I sighed with frustration.

My full name.

Urgh.

Malfoy chuckled upon hearing my name and then tried to pass it as a cough.

Now you know why I hate my name.

"Draco!" the woman scolded, glaring at him.

"Sorry, but it's an interesting name," he told me with a grin. His grin fell when he saw his wife's glare.

_Wow, she could be really scary. I already like her._

"I know. My name is too sweet for my liking; and my middle name clashes horribly with my last name." I mean really, Nightingale was a bird, and birds were full of feathers.

"Don't listen to him, it's a beautiful name," the woman said with a smile, patting me on shoulder.

She introduced herself as Astoria Malfoy, and believe me, she was one of the nicest people I had ever met.

"You're a first year, yes? Our son is also starting his first year," she told me and looked around, trying to track him down.

"Surely he's looking for a compartment," I replied, making her turn to me. Her motherly behaviour made me think of my mom. It was nice to know such sweet people.

She smiled warmly and gave me a pat on my head.

"It was nice to meet you, Miss Feather, but we should get going," said Mr. Malfoy, watching the time on his watch.

"It was nice meeting you both," I replied waving goodbye to them. I began dragging my trunk behind me, searching for a compartment. As I was walking through the corridor, I watched a blond haired boy placing his trunk on an upper rack. I immediately recognized him as a Malfoy.

I opened the door of the compartment, and the pale boy looked up to me with his grey eyes.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" I asked nicely. He shrugged and I dragged my trunk in, placing it under the seat.

"Hey! My name is Evie Feather," I introduced myself, nodding at him.

He hesitated in giving his name and then introduced himself, "Scorpius Malfoy." I shook his hand and tried to ignore his hesitation.

"You're father's nice. He helped me get my trunk on the train," I told Scorpius, trying to make a conversation.

"You're a Muggleborn," he stated, just like his father.

_What was with Malfoys telling me this?_

I nodded and replied, "I know how he was, what people say about him. But he is quite cool." Mr. Malfoy was cool and handsome, and the person sitting in front of me had inherited many of the same traits.

His eyes widened, but then he smiled. Shaking his head, he told me, "People usually don't like me because of my father."

"Let's not judge each other by our fathers. You won't know me quite well." I mumbled the last part very quietly, and he stared at me with confusion.

"Well, I am waiting for my brother; he told me to wait in a compartment and he – as per usual – is late." I changed the subject, remembering that he was supposed to be here. "Would it be cool if I just sat here with you for the rest of the ride?" Scorpius shrugged. I had already found a new friend.

_Well, at least someone likes me in this world._

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**A/n: So she smacked into Draco Malfoy. hmm.**

**I know people don't like Draco Malfoy very much. Many show him as a bad guy in some fics but according to me, he changed after war. I love his character and think of him as funny and cool guy. Hope you guys like it and Please tell me your views about the story.**

**Review will be appreciated. They would help me to go on.**


	3. Chapter 3: Git Brother and Sorting

**A/n: All characters belong to J K Rowling except my original characters and the plot. I would love some appreciation and support. * Reviews!***

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**Chapter 3: My Git Brother and Sorting**

After the introduction, Scorpius relaxed, and we began talking without any awkwardness, not even noticing that the train had started moving. I could see his mother's features in him. He had the same white blonde hair like his father and grey blue eyes, which definitely came from Astoria Malfoy. He had his father's cheekbones, but his nose was the same as his mother. He was a complete mixture of his parents, and I smiled in envy, sensing the happiness in his voice when he talked about them.

Before the train left the station, I watched parents hugging their children, wishing them to have a great year, scolding them to behave and not get in any trouble.

_I miss my brother._

Where was he?

I was very angry with him, first for leaving me alone and then not coming at the right time. He should have been here. I decided not to talk to him when he came looking for me.

"So, which house do you reckon you'll be?" I asked him curiously.

"I know, due to my family, people expect me to be in Slytherin. Believe me, I want to be in that house. I want to be just like my father the way he is now; I want to make him proud. My father's okay with me being in any house, but if not Slytherin, then probably Ravenclaw," he replied with a shrug. I could sense, however, that he just wanted to be Slytherin.

"Good, you should be proud of your father. I know he did some bad things in his past, but it was to protect his family. Family always comes first and one should never forget that," I replied, trying to control the emotions overflowing in my words.

_But some usually do_.

He smiled with a wide grin on his face, but didn't comment on my change of tone, even if he noticed it.

"What house do you want to be in?" he asked, trying to break the tension.

"Well, I'm not sure. I like reading, but I can't see myself in Ravenclaw. I am not very humble, so definitely not Hufflepuff. I talked to you, so I guess I'm brave, but I don't want to be in Gryffindor either. And anyways, my favourite colour is green, so Slytherin I suppose," I told him with a relieved smile.

"Muggleborns usually aren't sorted into Slytherin," he stated as a matter of fact. It was true, but there were always exceptions.

"Yeah, but there's a first for everything. We'll see what the Sorting Hat says," I joked. I thought that he would sort me to the house I deserved to be in.

He chuckled at this, and I joined him after a second. Suddenly, Quidditch came to my mind. My brother talked about it the whole summer, and I was curious about it and wanted to know more. He had this Quidditch magazine, and I tried to nick it but Alex hid it well.

I was angry with him.

Why?

Just two words.

_James Potter._

"I've read about Quidditch, but I don't know a lot about. You play right?" I asked, brows raised.

"I play as a Chaser, but my dad was a Seeker. He says I'm pretty good. He bought me the new Firebolt 6. It's amazing! I'm going to try out with it next year," he told me enthusiastically.

"Wow! Awesome, I don't know whether I can fly but I would love to learn it. Maybe if I am good, I'll try out too. I mean it's hard to say, but my brother told me that he is going to try out for Chaser. The Gryffindor captain said he was good," I told him excitedly.  
"Well, he must be good, coming from a captain and for a first year, that's huge," he was really impressed.

"Yeah, I reckon he is good. He told me that he has a shot at it, because two chasers graduated last year – " I began before I was interrupted.

"I must say, it feels good to know that my sister appreciates my abilities," I heard a voice from the gate. There, leaning on the doorpost, was my brother. He was brown haired with his sparkling green eyes, identical to mine, tall, and sporting dark jeans and black t-shirt.

"I must say, it feels good to know that my brother loves me so much, that he forgets all about me," I retorted with anger in my voice. He knew I was joking but his eyes softened on my words.

"Forget all about you? Am I mad? I'd rather not be killed by your bare hands, thank you very much," he joked, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Really, it's been what, two days since you saw me and an hour since the train started, and you don't even care to meet your sister, who is probably a nervous wreck just thinking about her first year. It shows how much you love her," I knew I was being rude but why didn't he come before?

"I missed you too." He gave me a big hug and squeezed my shoulder before turning toward Scorpius, realizing we were not alone. Before he could say something, I cut him off.

_How he knew him, I would never know?_

"Hey bro, this is Scorpius Malfoy. His parents helped me load my trunk on the train, which you should have done." I glared at him before continuing, "And we were just getting to know each other."

My brother turned to me, and I gave him a 'don't mess this up for me' look.

"I'm Alex, and thanks for accompanying her. Don't give me that look." I looked at Scorpius who was staring at my brother with raised eyebrows. "I know my sister is a great judge of character," he said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes with a small smile on my face.

_That git was the only one who could be forgiven so easily._

"Hi," he smiled and shook hands with my brother, who turned to me and asked whether I wanted to go with him.

"Bro, I think I am going to bunk here for the journey. I'll see you at the feast," I replied, not wanting to leave the first friend I had made.

"Ok, but eat this. I bought it from the trolley," he said, handing me a pack of Chocolate Frogs.

He looked at me with his apologetic eyes, his famous "puppy pout." I scratched my chin as if thinking whether to forgive him or not and then smiled at him after five seconds, telling him that he was forgiven.

_It was only because he gave me chocolate. I loved chocolate. It is a fact that chocolate will get you anywhere._

"Thanks bro, but you owed me that. Now run away." He stood up and ruffled my hair. I smacked his hand away.

Idiotic older brother, always messing up my hair.

After my brother left, Scorpius and I started talking about Quidditch once more and he explained to me the rules of the game.

I became fascinated by the idea of Quidditch as he explained more about it. I told him that I wanted to play soon, and he laughed, promised to help me.

Suddenly, the trolley lady came and asked if we wanted to buy something. I was in awe, taking in each type of candy. Seeing my face, Scorpius bought one of each, trying to explain the different variety.

I ate Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Jelly Slugs, Liquorice Wands, and Pumpkin Pasties.

I loved the Pumpkin Pasties and Liquorice wands. I even tried chocolate, peppermint, spinach and earwax flavoured Bertie Bott's candies.

_Believe me, earwax was yuck._

He showed me the Daily Prophet he had with him and told me that the paper was delivered to subscribers by owl. Subscriptions supposedly cost a Knut. This paper was delivered to Professors and a few students at Hogwarts in the mornings when the owl post arrives. As news changes, an edition may magically change, too, over the course of the day, probably by means of a Protean Charm, which was used for DA communication.

_Dumbledore's Army, duh._

The moving pictures and strange headlines made me more excited. I spent a great deal of time reading the newspaper and explained to Scorpius how it was different from a Muggle newspaper. He seemed awestruck by the idea of Muggle objects.

I told him about malls, letters, computers, emails, cars, bikes. He knew some things, but not in detail. He told me his father didn't know about much about Muggle things, but he had visited Muggle London multiple times with his father, and even watched movies like Terminator and Titanic, which were his mum's favourites.

I laughed aloud and told him more about movies.

Maybe, I _could_ find myself a little place in this new world, or maybe not.

We changed into our school uniforms once fifteen minutes were left of the journey and jumped out onto the platform as soon as the train stopped. I looked around the station with awe. It was filled with students, all talking loudly, and Scorpius pointed out to me the village of Hogsmeade. He informed me that we were not allowed to visit until our third year. We heard shouts calling for first years, so I dragged Scorpius with me towards the voice and saw a huge man; I mean seriously, he was huge. I ran towards him with Scorpius in tow.

"Hey, my name is Evie, and this is my friend Scorpius," I introduced myself, filled with enthusiasm as soon as he uttered a "hello."  
He watched us both, his eyes lingering on Scorpius and then smiled. He said, "Rubeus Hagrid, Professor of Care of Magical Creatures and Gamekeeper of Hogwarts." I gave him a big smile. I knew who he was; my brother told me about him and his cupcakes.

_They are not edible, unless you have vampire teeth. But vampires don't eat food._

I loved animals, so I couldn't wait to attend his class. That would have to wait for another two years, though. Alex told me that third years thought he was a cool teacher, not strict at all, and that they had fun in his class, even if it did tend to get a bit gross.

But then again, Alex never really liked animals.

As every first year gathered around us, I noticed that people stared at Scorpius and then at me, and we both looked at each other and shrugged. After everyone had arrived, Hagrid instructed us to follow him. I would have slipped on the slope if Scorpius didn't grab me. As we reached the Black lake, we got our first view of Hogwarts. There was a loud "Oooooh!" from our group.

Scorpius and I sat in an empty boat. A boy with black hair and emerald green eyes wearing specs sat in front of us, dragging a flaming red-haired girl with brown eyes by her hand. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Scorpius.

_I mean really, people are so prejudiced._

"Hey, I am Albus but people call me Al and this is my cousin Rose," the boy introduced shyly. He dragged his hand through his hair. His nose crooked due to his nervousness.

"Evie and this is Scorpius," I told him, and Scorpius nodded to him.

"Malfoy," the girl, Rose, called him and I got angry, but as I turned to her, I watched her face. It was not rude or in distaste but simply curious. Scorpius, being the ignorant git he was, didn't see her face.

"Yeah, Weasley, have a problem with it?" he hissed. She was taken aback and her ears turned red as she blushed with anger.

"Yes, because you are acting like an idiot," she snapped and glared back at him. Observing that they were going to start a yelling session, I cut them off.

"Enough. If you don't want to talk to each other, then don't." I then asked Al politely if we could exchange seats. I threw a look at Scorpius.

"So, you're a Muggleborn," she began and before I could say something, she cut me off. "My mum is Muggleborn."

I smiled and nodded and we started to talk about houses and classes. She really liked reading, and I grinned.

Finally, someone who reads more than me. At least I wasn't going to be the biggest nerd in the school.

I sneakily checked to see if the boys were getting along, and thank Merlin they were having a civil conversation. A moment later I figured out what they were talking about: Quidditch.

_Honestly, did boys talk about ANYTHING else?_

But Scorpius and I talked about that, too.

We stopped talking when we got a closer glimpse of the castle.

_Gosh, it's huge and beautiful._

The sight was like nothing I had ever seen or imagined in my life. I had heard about the castle from my brother, but what I heard had nothing that could compare to the actual sight.

We trailed behind Hagrid, and soon enough, we were standing in an entryway made of marble. At the top of a grand staircase stood a man with dirty, blond haired and emerald green robes.

Hagrid disappeared after greeting the man, calling him Professor Longbottom. He winked towards Al and Rose, and I relaxed, gathering that he wasn't strict.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, everyone," he said. "In a few minutes, I will lead you all into the Great Hall where the Sorting Ceremony will take place. You will be sorted into one of the following four houses – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, your house will be your family and Hogwarts will become your home. You will gain points for your accomplishments, while any rule breaking will lose you points. Now, please, follow me everyone."

We silently trailed behind Professor, a feeling of dread falling upon me. We entered the Great Hall. At the head of the hall was the staff table. Seated in the centre was a stern looking woman with a grey hair and black highlights. She was wearing a set of purple robes and was busy surveying the hall, her eyes falling on the first years. There was a three-legged stool with a patched, frayed, old hat. As we stood before the hat, it started singing a song which defined the traits of all of the houses.

Once the hat stopped singing, Professor Longbottom pulled out a long scroll and unfurled it.

"When I call your name, you will come and put on the Sorting Hat," he explained. "Once you have been sorted, you will take your seat with your new house mates." He looked at the scroll.

"Anderson, Lia!"

A girl with blonde, plaited hair jumped in her spot and scurried up to the stool. Hat on head, she waited rather impatiently and nervously for it to shout out her new house.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Sorting Hat proclaimed. The table at the far right of the room began cheering loudly and Lia joined them, grinning broadly.

I ignored the ceremony, knowing it would take time for my name to be called. I glanced across the hall, trying to locate my brother. He was sitting at the far table with three other boys, what I now knew was Gryffindor table. One of them was dark skinned with red hair like Rose, whispering with a dirty blonde haired boy across the table from my brother. They were trying to wake a black haired guy who was asleep on the table.

After locating him, I turned my attention towards sorting and suddenly, I heard my name.

"Feather, Evangeline!"

If I could curse loudly, I would have done it but I refrained myself from doing that and made my way toward the stool and sat on it.

"Hmmm. Interesting." I almost jumped on hearing the voice but then relaxed.

_What's interesting in this?_

"You are smart and have a sharp brain and curious about things for knowledge. Ravenclaw could take you far, for you have brains in great amounts. Yes, a thirst for knowledge, Ravenclaw would do you good."

It paused for few seconds and I waited and observed that the whole hall was staring at me.

_Great! Just choose will you?_

"Impatient are we?"

And then, it chuckled.

_I mean, seriously, the sorting hat chuckled_, and the whole hall was looking at me like I had just used a killing curse.

"You are manipulative and can protect yourself, yes ambitious too, but cunning no, you aren't selfish, and you care more about your close ones, even if they are few."

_Yeah! Rub it in my face that I don't have many friends, as if it's my fault._

"You are brave, daring and loyal and you value everything Hufflepuff holds dear, your loyalty extends to any who do you a kindness. Receive a little and you will pay back a lot more. Compassionate, too I see. Your upbringing has taught that or should I say you have learned it by your own. But you have courage, a strong Gryffindor you would make like your brother,"

_Great! Not in same house as my brother!_

"What! you don't want to be in Gryffindor,"

_No way!_

"Well you are fair and unafraid of toil, you will do well in Gryffindor,"

_I am not that much brave, believe me._

"But the house where your own natural talents, abilities, and qualities will be most magnified and well-used, and where you would bring pride to your house... Better be..."

I waited as my future was decided.

This was it, I would be sorted into a house where I would have to live for seven years and it would be my home, my space and my living.

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**A/n: Oh! this is the moment where we will know which house she is going to be sorted.**

**It looks like Evie and Scorpius are becoming friends and we get to see Al and Rose.**

**What do you think about Alex? and the sibling fight, gotta love them.**

**Well, let me know what you think with your reviews as to whether you like this or not. I would really appreciate all feedback. They will motivate me to write on.**


	4. Chapter 4: Proud of My House

**All characters belong to J K Rowling except my original characters and the plot. **

**Thanks for following this story.**

**Thanks for the reviews : Amndla123 (also for the suggestion), Kaototchi, Fire the cannon. Love you guys :)**

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"HUFFLEPUFF!"

As soon as the words came out of the sorting hat's mouth, the table at the far right of the room began cheering loudly. I sat frozen, unsure of what to do.

I realized that I was still sitting down when Professor Longbottom had pulled the sorting hat from my head. I didn't know what to do.

I was shocked; I listened to the cheers from the house which I least expected myself to be sorted. I forced my legs to move away from the podium and walked down the stairs towards the Hufflepuff table. I could feel eyes on me, but I wanted to see just one person. I looked around and found myself looking at the eyes identical to mine. My brother was sitting at his table, looking shocked and a little irritated.

_Maybe he thought I was a pathetic, dumb girl now. I was a Hufflepuff._

"It's going to be okay," he mouthed to me, and I looked away from him. I couldn't meet his eyes now and started toward the cheering table. A brown haired girl who looked like a fifth or sixth year moved aside to make space for me, and I slid onto the vacant seat. She stared at me, but I looked away from her prying eyes, turning to watch the remainder of the sorting ceremony. I was drowned in my thoughts.

I was depressed.

Hufflepuff was a house which always came last in everything. My brother told me students from other houses always picked on my housemates, and they were not brave enough to protect themselves. One thing in particular, however, was irritating me.

Why didn't the hat sort me into Gryffindor, which would have been good for me according to my brother?

_What greatness could I achieve in Hufflepuff?_

I jerked out of my thoughts when Professor Longbottom called "Malfoy, Scorpius!"

I watched him climb the stairs smoothly and sit on the chair.

_Would he want to be friends with me, knowing I was a Hufflepuff now?_

The students were murmuring, and I suspected most of them knew of the Malfoy's reputation. Professor Longbottom placed the hat on his head.

It took some time for the hat to decide, and I could see Scorpius becoming nervous as he tapped his foot on the floor, shaking his head. He was probably trying to negate something that the hat had said. Then the hat bellowed, "Slytherin!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was happy that Scorpius was sorted in the house he wanted to be in.

The table with green and silver ties clapped, but no one looked surprised. It was as if everyone expected him to join that house, but it didn't matter because I could see the wide grin he had on his face.

Was it wrong of me to feel envy of him but also to be happy that he got his wish?

"Potter, Albus!" Professor Longbottom called this time. I watched Albus walk sure-footedly past Rose and then up the steps to the three-legged stool while the crowd cheered for him.

"He is just like Harry Potter," a girl sitting in front of me whispered to another girl, but I ignored her.

Professor Longbottom clapped him warmly on the shoulder, and the hat dropped down over his eyes. I looked around the room and observed the whole hall staring at him as he sat there like a deer in the headlights, frozen and unable to think or move.

We waited. And waited. And waited. For several minutes, Al sat undisturbed beneath the sorting hat. Professor Longbottom leaned in to talk to headmistress, both of them glancing concernedly at Albus and the Hat.

_So this is how it felt like when the sorting hat took ages to sort someone?_

Finally, after approximately seven minutes of anxious waiting, the Sorting Hat did something that shocked the whole staff and, later, the whole school. It shouted

"Slytherin!"

The room went silent. Al just sat there unmoving, the Sorting Hat still perched on his head.

The Headmistress was the first to start clapping. The Slytherin table clapped politely, though they seemed unsure of how to react to their newest member. Every eye followed him as he went towards the Slytherin table where he sat down next to Scorpius, who bumped him with his shoulder.

What was happening today?

_Maybe the Sorting Hat has lost it now. It sorted Al into Slytherin, I mean that's really... I don't even know what to say._

The sorting ended with Rose being sorted into Gryffindor. The Headmistress stood up and gave a welcome speech. I didn't want to listen; I just wanted to go to my bed and sleep.

I didn't gasp like the others when the food magically appeared on the plates in front of us. I had lost my appetite. I chewed on my lips, trying very hard not to cry.

What was wrong with me?

So what. I was in Hufflepuff. It didn't change anything, but I felt as if everything had changed.

I was a Hufflepuff.

The house which was for dumb people. I was a Puffer now. I looked down at my tie. It was now black and yellow.

Hufflepuff colors.

The girl beside me tapped me on my shoulder and instructed me to follow her. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize that dinner had come to an end. I forced myself after her as she and another boy led us through different corridors, but I was not paying attention. I wanted some time alone to think.

When we reached the common room, the girl introduced herself as a sixth year prefect. She was around 5'4,'' tan skinned with curvy brown hair and black eyes. She told us all of Hufflepuff's history.

She suggested that we sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to climb the stairs to my dormitory.

If this house was supposed to be my home, why was it looking unfamiliar to me? Why were there no homely feelings?

I looked around the room, filled with yellow hangings and fat armchairs. It had small, underground tunnels leading to the dormitories. The house mascot, a honey badger, was placed on the corner wall on which the motto, "Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil," was written.

I moved toward the armchair which was situated near the fireplace and sat staring into the fire. I don't know how long I sat there until the sixth year girl jerked me out of my rhythm. I looked around the room and observed that I was only person left. I turned toward the girl.

"I know what you're thinking. That Hufflepuff is a house of cowards composed of students who cannot take care of themselves," the tone of her voice suggested that she had similar thoughts at one point.

I tried to lie. "No, I wasn't-"

But she cut me off. "Don't lie, I know. I was thinking the same way when I was sorted. My sister was in Ravenclaw. She was the intelligent one, while I was the loyal and fair one. Believe me, a house doesn't identify us," She looked me in the eye and continued, "You can either say that this doesn't suit you, or you can move on. Be proud of your house and do wonders to prove to yourself that you are good enough for those idiots who forget that the decisions we make define us. When I was sorted, I was like you, a scared eleven year old for whom these things were new, but these things have made me what I am now, and I am proud to call myself a Hufflepuff."

Her words processed in my mind, and I realized she was right; a house doesn't change anything.

People will criticize me, but let them. When was I afraid to stand before them?

Being a Hufflepuff didn't mean that I couldn't be brave or intelligent or snarky. I could be anything I wanted to be, and no one had any right to say anything ill about me.

_If they don't like me, then it's their loss, not mine._

"Thanks, I think I needed to hear that. Evie Feather, by the way," I introduced myself and she shook hands with me.

"Alicia Bennett. It was nice talking to you. Now hurry up to your dorm. It's almost one and you need to rise early for classes at nine."

When I entered my dormitory, the others were asleep. I made my way towards the bed where my trunk was placed. I liked that my bed was situated near the window. I always liked to wake up by the sunrays. I quickly changed into my night dress and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up early at six even though I had been up since one. I peered around the dormitory. There were six beds, including mine, and the beds had quite a bit of space in between them. I moved from my bed and made my way to the window, sitting beside it and waiting for the sunrise. Snowy was perched on the corner of my bed, sleeping soundly.

"Do you always wake up at this time?" I jumped on hearing someone behind me and turned toward the sound. I found myself face to face with a dirty blonde-haired girl with shy golden brown eyes. She was sitting on the bed beside mine. Her widened eyes told me that she was sorry for the sudden attack.

"I love to watch the sunrise. It calms me down and gives me strength to start a new day," I said the first thing that came to my mind.

_Now I had totally gone mad and begun talking like a poet. What's wrong with me?_

Her face lit up by my words, but she looked hesitant. "Alice Longbottom,"

I turned my neck and watched her; she looked like our new professor very much. As if she had heard my thoughts, "Yeah, my dad is a Professor," she replied with small grin on her face.

"Evie Feather," I replied.

"Let's get ready and go down for breakfast. It will take time to go there as I have no idea how to go there," I told her, and we got ready.

It took us almost an hour to find our way to the Great Hall. We couldn't remember the way, and the portraits didn't help. Many gave us wrong directions.

After many struggles, we reached the Great Hall. I memorized the directions because I wasn't keen to get lost again. Only teachers and few students were there as we took our seats at the Hufflepuff table.

"Let's eat, I'm starving," I said, putting some scrambled eggs and toast on my plate and filling my glass with orange juice. Alice put some bacon on her plate and started munching on it. Since I didn't have dinner last night, I was starving.

"Calm down, Evie, the food isn't going anywhere," Alice told me, smiling at my behaviour.

"I didn't eat yesterday at the welcoming feast, so I am somewhat hunger stricken," I replied in between mouthfuls. "What do you think our first class will be?"

Manners were deeply embedded in both my brother and I by our mother.

"Well, first year classes are always taken with another house to promote friendliness between the houses ever since the war," Rose commented, taking a seat beside Alice. The Gryffindor table was almost empty and I was surprised that Rose was the only first year.

"Let's see how friendly the others are," I joked, not knowing how different houses reacted.

We ate, and I waited for either my brother, Scorpius, or Al to come. None of them came.

It was easy to get back to our dormitory and retrieve our books after receiving our timetables from our Head of House, Professor McMillan. Rose knew the way to Charms class and we waited outside for class to begin.

_Um... Being early is kind of nerdy._

"Someone's having a good morning." I smiled and turned to Scorpius who was grinning at me. I was so happy that I hugged him, but when he froze, I realized my fault. He relaxed, however, and hugged me back, laughing.

"You're right, I guess breakfast gave me a boost," I joked and tried to apologize, but he just shrugged.

Sometimes I wanted to count how many times he shrugged.

_Ask him anything, and he would shrug._

"Don't worry Evangeline. We are not going to insult your house," Al teased me, using my full name. I glared at him.

"Never call me by my full name, Albus, if you wish to live," I warned him, using his full name. He flinched at my warning.

"And you don't look depressed, Slytherin boy?" I asked, trying to quirk my eyebrows like Mr. Malfoy did at that time when I met him. I knew I totally failed when Scorpius saw my face and chuckled, shaking his head.

_At least I tried._

"You know, I asked myself the same question and thought about why I wasn't unhappy. I eventually came to know the answer. It's okay to be different and not be what everything expect of you. Plus, I could have done worse."

When I again gave him a questioning look, Albus replied, "I could have been sorted in the same house as my brother." He had a horrified look on his face and I laughed out loud.

I glared at him, however, when he said, "Stop doing that eyebrow thing. You look creepy."

Scorpius laughed like crazy now and shook his head. My retort was cut off.

"Rose Nymphadora Weasley, how could you leave me behind? I thought I would tear my hair out after hearing Fred's jokes," shouted a strawberry blonde haired girl standing in front of Rose and glaring at her with light blue eyes. Rose looked apologetically at her.

"I forgot."

Was it my imagination, or was this girl was really beautiful?

"She's my cousin, Dom. She is one-eighth Veela," Al whispered to me and Scorpius, who nodded. I was clueless.

_Hello, Muggleborn here. What is a Veela?_

"I'll tell you later," Scorpius told me as if he knew what I was thinking.

"Oh! I am Dominique Weasley, you can call me Dom." She introduced herself to me. She was different.

If I could describe her in one word, it would be "over-energetic." She was full of excitement and was almost bouncing on her feet with, giving me the impression that she was eleven.

"Evie Feather," I replied, not knowing what to do. I could hear Al sniggering at my situation.

"I know you. You are James's best friend Alex's sister," Dom said, and I nodded. She was a Ravenclaw and was sporting a blue and bronze tie. It made her blue eyes shine.

"You're the one who wakes up at five," she said, pointing at me.

"Huh?" was my answer. How could she know when I usually wake up?

"Alex told me. I mean he told James from whom I heard. James was kind of joking about how someone could wake up so early," she rambled about their talk. I was annoyed that they were making fun of me.

No, James Potter was making fun of me. So what if I wake up early?

_My alarm didn't ring beside his ears._

If that happened, I would choose one with an elephant's trumpet. At least that would wake him up.

My list for not liking James Potter was growing larger, and I was sure that I had at least twenty points about 'why to not like James Potter'.

The most infuriating point is that James Potter is a brother stealer (the only best friend I ever had) . I guess it's valid for me to dislike him.

Yeah, dislike. Hate is a strong word, and you can't just hate someone.

My brother is my support, but now I feel like a ceiling which is crumbling down due to the cracking pillars that were supporting it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Professor Flitwick was distinguishingly short. If there was one way that I could describe him, I would say he was a tiny little Professor. He had a shock of white hair and wore green robes. He stood atop a stool in order to be seen and heard by everyone in the class.

I was very eager to use my wand for first time. I felt like it was going to decompose if I didn't use it soon.

Our first class was about the levitation charm. We were each given a feather.

Wasn't it _ironic_?

Al chuckled on seeing one and then waved it in front of me to emphasize that my name was Feather. When Professor Flitwick asked us to levitate the feather, Al teased me by asking the Professor "which one." I scowled at him but couldn't stop the upward twitch of my lips by his teasing.

I never had a friend who would tease me.

I was not surprised to see that Rose managed to levitate her feather on her first attempt. Al, Scorpius, Dom, and even Alice were able to do it in one go, too, but I was slightly nervous.

Scorpius had told me that his mother taught him a few spells. I guess others had learned some, too.

What if I couldn't do it?

"C'mon, give it a go," Scorpius said, and I clutched my wand tightly.

Swish and flick.

I tried to follow what the Professor had said. He told us to simply concentrate on the feather and say the incantation. I tried, but nothing happened. I was depressed but watching other students struggle. The encouraging look from Scorpius and Al made me try it again.

After a few attempts, I thought of another way. I imagined how the feather would look if it lifted from the desk by an invisible upward force and was floating in the air. I said the incantation and watched as the feather lifted in the air. Professor Flitwick beamed at me.

It was easy to accomplish with a little imagination, and I was happy that I was able to do this. My happiness faded away when I felt a sharp pain in my head. It was minor but irritating. I tried to avoid it by singing a song in my head, but it was becoming increasingly painful. I breathed out slowly, trying to calm myself down. I could stop myself from rubbing my temple.

"Evie, are you okay? Why are you rubbing your temple?" Scorpius asked frowning at me, drawing the attention of Al too.

"Nothing, just a minor headache. I didn't sleep much last night." Headaches had never been a problem in my life. I never had them before, but now they were quite irritating.

"Should we take you to the hospital wing?" Al asked me, looking quite concerned.

"Merlin, I am fine. It's just a little headache. I'll be okay after a good night's sleep," I assured them.

Despite my headache, it was fun to attend the class with Al's jokes and Scorpius's sarcastic comments.

_I could live like this._

After the class, we trudged out and headed toward our next class: potions. It was quite cold in the dungeons, but Scorpius and Al assured me that this was nothing. Their common house was supposedly colder than this.

Yeah, it snowed in the Slytherin common room. _Snort_.

I smacked into someone when I was walking into the classroom, and this time it was not my fault.

"Watch where you're going, mudblood," the girl spat. She had straight, shoulder-length, black hair and glaring, dark eyes. What amused me was her pug face.

Scorpius and Al froze upon hearing her words. I heard the combined hissing of my friends and the few students that were surrounding us and was quite surprised by the outburst caused by a single word.

_What did she just say? Mud...what?_

"Maybe you should check your eyesight as you were the one who smacked into me," I snapped at her before anyone could say anything. I had a headache and her comment was just irritating me further.

"Why would I want to touch a mudblood like you?" she asked, giving me a dirty look. A few Slytherin girls giggled, and I could see some boys smirking, too.

It was starting to really piss me off.

"Parkinson." Scorpius called her name coldly with a warning in his voice. He was stiff and Al had his hand on his upper arm, as if to stop him from attacking her. Al was glaring daggers at her. Almost everyone had their wands out as if they would hex the Parkinson girl.

What's going on because I have had enough?

"First of all, Puggy," I began. I was irritated by her voice which was very shrill and causing my head to ache. "It was your fault. And secondly, you should have told me you had skin problems so we could distance ourselves to avoid contracting your disease."

Al chuckled upon hearing my words. Parkinson's face became red, and she looked as if she were about to explode.

"Why you little mud...," she started, but Rose cut her off by pointing her wand at her throat.

"Call her that again, and I swear, I will hex you so hard that you will have problems sitting in a chair for the next week," Rose warned her. Parkinson stepped back, looking at Rose's wand.

I was surprised to watch Rose stand up for me. If it was Scorpius or Al, I wouldn't. Her standing up for me made me fell good.

"Got some personal problem with that word, Weasley?" she smirked. I could see Rose trembling from the effort of controlling herself.

"Silencio," Dom said, pointing her wand at Parkinson. "Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" The others coughed, trying to hide their laughter.

"Shut it," Dom snapped at her cousins, but I was thrilled.

I didn't know what the word meant, but they all stood up for me. It made me feel overjoyed and amazed.

Alice cleared her throat, and we all turned to her. She blushed from the sudden attention. "I..." she began before turning to the girls around Puggy "Do you know the countercurse?" she questioned and all of them shook their heads, turning to the pug face. "You?" She shook her head as well. Alice nodded and then smiled mischievously.

"Good. C'mon we have a class to attend."

With that, Alice moved towards the entrance.

I was grinning like a fool. I had real friends who actually cared for me and would stand up for me. It didn't matter that I was in Hufflepuff. They were my friends and they would always be there for me.

_A house didn't change who I was: Evie Feather. _

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**Well let me know what you think with your reviews as to whether you like this or not – really appreciate all feedback.**


	5. Chapter 5: Understanding

**All characters belong to J K Rowling except my original characters and the plot. Thanks for your reviews and following it.**

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**Chapter five: Understanding**

Even if an atomic bomb had exploded in the middle of the classroom, Professor Binns wouldn't have noticed.

The class was super boring.

But it had its advantages.

For example, I was catching up on sleep. I was trying my best not to fall out of my chair and catch the attention of the entire class. At first, I swear, I tried to pay attention when class started, but after few minutes, however, I could feel myself dozing off.

My sleep was interrupted by someone poking me from the right.

"What?" I snapped, awake now and turned to Scorpius. He had been poking me for five minutes, even though Al was sitting between us, sleeping in his seat.

"Pay attention to the class," he grinned and smirked at me. I wanted to slap that smirk off his face, but now it wouldn't have mattered because I was awake.

"Why not wake Al?"

"I tried, but Al sleeps like the dead," he said, shrugging and frowned.

I searched in my bag and found what I was looking for.

My quill.

I looked at Al and grinned at Scorpius, motioning with my fingers for him to watch me. I clutched the quill in my hands and used the feather to tickle Al. I tickled his ears, and he squirmed and groaned but didn't wake up. I motioned for Scorpius to do the same, and he readily took out his quill and started working on his other ear. It took us less than twenty seconds to wake Al.

"STOP IT!" he woke with startle and then tried to rub his ears to stop the tickling.

The whole class was watching Al's outburst, and it was becoming harder to control myself from laughing out loud. I looked at Scorpius and gave him a thumbs-up. He grinned. Al huffed like a baby and glared at us. Even after all of this, Professor Binns didn't stop droning on about Goblin Rebellions.

After class ended, we left to go to the Great Hall for food.

"Hey, do you know the way to Owlery?" I questioned, and Scorpius gave me the directions. I bid them goodbye, leaving my friends with the assurance that I would find the Owlery just fine.

Dear Mom,

It feels good to talk to you. I miss you so much. Don't take tension. I am fine. I was sorted into Hufflepuff, but it's a great house. I know I talked a lot about being in Slytherin, but it's fine. I made some great friends and my first day classes went well. I loved Charms, and Potions came easily to me. You know I love cooking. I just had my last class, and it's true when Alex said that History is boring. I'm headed to dinner.  
Take care of yourself, and I will look after Bro. Don't worry and write back. Mars will wait.

Yours,  
Evie

I whistled and called for my brother's owl. I forced him to buy an owl when he went to Diagon Alley before his first year at Hogwarts so he could send me letters and tell me about his school. After a great deal of persuasion, he gave up and told me to choose whichever owl I liked. I was pleased and was intending to select a cute little owl, but a brown one caught my eye. Its lower body was pale with dark streaks, and its upper body was grey. Despite everything, I absolutely loved him.

He flew towards me, hooting lovingly, and happily pecked me on hands. He loved me because I was the one who named him Mars.

"C'mon boy, take this letter to mom and wait till she sends you back with a letter." He hooted, meaning he knew what I was talking about and flew through window.  
Mars was very smart; he bit my brother one time when he tried to prank me. After that, I knew I could totally trust him.

It wasn't that he didn't love my brother, but he did like me more.

It was a long distance from the Owlery to the Great Hall, but I remembered about a secret passageway my brother had told me about on third floor. It led directly to the Great Hall corridor. All I need to do was to search for the "looniest old witch."

These are not my words, but my brother's.

I searched, but there were so many portraits that I was sure I wouldn't be able to find the one. I was about to give up when I saw an old portrait of a witch who was frowning. I had never seen someone loonier than her. I just tapped the wall beside her and could feel it was hollow; I pressed it and it divided to give way to the the passageway.

Merlin, I love magic.

I started moving forward, mentally patting myself on the back for the accomplishment. I was so happy that I didn't hear the voices coming from in front of me; I froze as soon as I turned the corner.

A blond girl was standing so closed to a dark haired boy, and it took me time to realize that they were going to kiss each other.

I tried to retreat back as silently as I could. Unluckily, I fell flat on my face.

"Shoot," I cursed and turned to look at the couple, who were both staring at me. I stood up, trying my hard not to wince from the pain in my knee. I looked at them but I couldn't quite see their faces in the dark. However, I was sure I startled them. I pulled out my wand and lighted it.

"Lumos." The light spread through the passageway, and I could see the girl who was standing before me was looking down at me with no concern, just irritation. I turned to the boy and took a step back and couldn't stop myself from whispering "Al."

He was glaring at me like I had just stabbed him in the back, but frowned when I called him Al.

He looked like Al, like he was carbon copy from far but now as I looked closely I could see the difference. He was taller than Al by five inches, and his hair was lighter. Al had sharp, black hair, but this boy had a blend of dark brown and red. I turned my eyes to meet his and now the main difference was there. His eyes were hazel, not emerald green like Al, and the boy wasn't wearing any glasses.

"Sorry, I kind of lost my way. I was trying to go to the Great Hall," I apologized for the intrusion. The frown on his face disappeared and he started glaring at me.

"How come you know about this secret passageway?" He questioned irritatingly. I was completely taken aback by the rudeness in his voice.

Definitely not Al.

I knew I had disturbed them, and he had every right to be angry at me. His annoyance was right and I was a little ashamed. If someone disturbed my kiss, I would have hexed the intruder.

"I am really sorry. This passageway isn't a big secret or something," I mumbled sheepishly. He closed his eyes tightly, a big frown on his face.

I was ready for some insult, and it came when the girl behind him said, "Why don't you go wherever you were going and leave us alone."

Any guilt I had for disturbing them had just vanished on hearing the venom in her voice.

"As if I am dying to watch you guys kissing and wanted to separate you," I snapped back before I could stop myself. It was almost amusing to hear what she was insinuating, and I rolled my eyes.

"You," she hissed. "Dumb 'puffer!"

My head snapped to her so fast, and I scowled at her.

"Excellent choice of words. That's so Ravenclaw of you," I snapped back. She growled and glared at me. I looked at the boy behind her. I might have imagined the upwards twitch of his lips because it was gone as soon as I blinked.

"Look, I don't have any interest in your social activities. I was just going to the Great Hall, and I will continue on my way. You can carry on here if he doesn't have any problems with going at it again," I replied back, smirking at her.

I turned around without giving her a chance to respond and thought of opting the long route now. I turned the corner and breathed a sigh of relief, retracing my steps.

It took me fifteen minutes to reach the Great Hall which looked almost empty. I saw everyone conversing at the Gryffindor table and made my way there. They all turned to me when they realized I was there, and I sat down, filling my plate with boiled and roast potatoes, chips, and roast beef. As I started eating I could feel the eyes of others on me.

"If you're hungry, fill your own plates. I'm not going to share anything," I snapped at them. I felt bad as soon as I uttered those words. I was irritated, but I couldn't just pour out my anger on my friends.

"We're already done. Where were you?" Scorpius asked me, totally ignoring my snapping. I sighed.

"I went to send letter to mom and got stuck in the middle of a kissing couple," I answered, wrinkling up my nose in disgust. Seriously, if she thought I was trying to interrupt them, then she was barking mad.

"Kissing couple? You disturbed them?" Al asked grinning, and I shook my head but then nodded.

"What?" Rose looked a lot more confused now.

"I didn't want to, but I slipped and fell and startled them."

Thinking back, I had felt bad. But remembering the girl's reactions made me sure that I hadn't been wrong to reply back.

"How horrible," Alice sighed, sad.

"Poor them, poor me," I shouted, and their heads snapped back to me. "They insulted me, and the girl she called me a dumb puffer. The nerve of her!"

"Bitch," Dom cursed and we all turned to her. "What? It's good of Evie that she didn't hex her. I would have done that in a heartbeat."

"EVIE!"

I turned my head and saw my brother running towards me. When he reached me, he hugged me tight.

"How are you?" he whispered. He knew I never liked discussing private things publically.

"Fine. Hufflepuff's cool," I winked at him and he sighed. I could see the tension leave him, and I felt bad knowing that my brother was worried about me.

"Well, it's good to know that you are doing well. So, how was the first day?" he asked, knowing that I would be dying to talk to him.

"It was really cool. We practiced a Levitation Charm, and I managed it!"

His brows raised in appreciation that I had succeeded on my first day.

"Potions was awesome, it's really easy. It's more like cooking." He grinned and nodded, letting me ramble on.

"History was boring, and I fell asleep," I scowled slightly; I never wanted to sleep through class on my first day, but it was boring .

"Who doesn't?" Al scoffed, causing everyone around to laugh loudly.

"Looks like you had the best day, better than mine," he replied, and I could feel the pride emitting front him. I gave him a wide grin.

"You know what, wait a second, FRED! FRANK! HERE!" he yelled for someone sitting little away from us. I saw the same tan skin boy with red hair, which now I identified to be as Weasley hair and another boy with dirty blonde hair.

"This is my sister, Evie. Evie, these are my friends," he introduced us. Frank nodded, and Fred shook hands with me.

"Fred Weasley, pleasure to meet you," he said smiling and his smile was infectious, forcing me to smile back.

"Evie Feather and the pleasure is all mine," I replied, imitating his sixties British accent. He grinned.

"I like her," he told Alex.

"Frank Longbottom," I turned to Alice who nodded. "Alice's brother."

"Evie," he was very polite, but I could see the hidden mischievous fire in his eyes.

Now I know how Alex was in detention so often. All of his friends were troublemakers.

"Where's James?" Alex asked and looked around. Fred shook his head and whistled. Alex mouthed a big 'o' and grinned.

Now that my brother was here, I wanted to ask him a question.

"Hey, bro," I called, and he hummed telling me to continue what I was asking. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Go on."

"I heard this word this morning, and I thought I could ask you."

"Wow, Evie Feather the great bookworm asking me about a word. When did this happen?"

"I am not bookworm," I yelled back, horrified that he called me that. He snorted, and I glared at him.

"Ask away," he said and continued to eat.

"I was going to potions this morning," I started. "There was this girl who said something to me. I don't remember the word exactly, but it was something like mud..."

He froze when he heard the word and his head snapped to me so fast that I was sure it would break away. His sea green eyes were piercing with anger, and I was shocked to see the hatred in them.

"Mudblood?" he said the word, and I immediately recognized it.  
Mudblood.

"That one," I nodded, now realizing that it might not have been good idea to ask him.

"Who called you that?" he questioned me, his expression blazing.

"Uhm…" I stammered for the first time in my life, reluctant to have him hurt someone. I flinched upon seeing his expression, the one I had seen after so long. His eyes softened on seeing me back away, and then he sighed.

"Don't let anyone call you that the person who called is son of..." Fred started, but Alex cut him off, gaining my attention.

"Evie," he said, strongly commanding my full attention to him. "Mudblood is a term which is used for those who come from non-magical families," he said looking straight into my eyes. "It's extremely offensive and lewd."

Sighing, he continued.

"You have to understand that the Wizarding world wasn't always accepting of Muggleborns. There were certain magical families," I saw his eyes turn to Scorpius, and I frowned, "who called themselves "Purebloods." Generation of witches and wizards were born with prejudiced against Muggleborns , considering them to be of lesser worth and undeserving of magic."

"It means dirty and filthy blood. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation, but during the War, that word was used for people like us. We were believed to have stolen magic from other witches or wizards." His words were shocking to me.

He had never told me anything about it when he came for his first year. I had never thought that there were some people who would be against the idea of someone like me studying magic.

I thought it would be difficult to learn magic because it was brand new to me. I never knew that magic even existed before my brother got his letter. I thought that it woulb be uncomfortable and hard to live in this new world, but there might be people who would never accept the idea of educating me wrong never crossed my mind.

"It's an idiotic thing," Scorpius said turning to me with conviction in his eyes "No one can steal magic, you're born with it. It's everyone's right to learn magic. During the Second War, Muggleborns were blamed by the Ministry for obtaining the magic by force, and many families supported this concept. The Malfoys were one of them." My eyes snapped to him when he whispered the last word.

"My great grandfather," he mumbled, "was one of the believers. I don't know whether he was forced to believe in it, or he actually did, but he was prejudiced and he taught the same thing to his son and grandson. Dad told me that he was arrogant and believed that he was above everyone. His jealousy, insecurity and the pressure from his family was what forced him to become a Death Eater. He never wanted that, but you can't just escape it when you and Lord Voldermort live under the same roof. Voldermort would have murdered my entire family if Dad didn't try to kill Dumbledore,"

Scorpius chuckled darkly, "He knew that Dad won't be able to do it. It was punishment. The war changed everything."

"But this whole pureblood rubbish is wrong, otherwise there wouldn't be any squibs. There have been many Muggleborns who were stronger than purebloods. Those who call themselves Purebloods are rubbish. Every Wizarding family is at least Half-blood."

The expression of his face was full of guilt.

There was a long silence after Scorpius finished. Everyone was looking at him with surprise and shock. I shook my head when I started feeling pity for Scorpius.

"Moreover, one of the best Ministry officials is a Muggleborn and she is the brightest witch of her time, my Aunt Hermione," Al said, and the others nodded.

I gave Scorpius a smile. He sighed in relief and nodded.

"Wow! Never thought I would hear that from a Malfoy," Fred commented.

"You can hear things? I thought you were deaf, Freddy."

A tan skinned girl with dark red hair came and sat down between Fred and Frank

"Now, now, Roxy, It's my birth right to ignore my twin. Younger sisters can be a bit irritating," Fred teased and shut up when Roxy smacked him.

"I am seven minutes younger than you," she scowled at Fred.

"It still means you're younger than me," Fred shrugged.

"Aggravating your younger sister is never a good idea, Fred," I commented, and Roxy looked at me with a small smile on her face. Fred just rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it, Alex?" I turned to my brother who shook his head on my tactic and nodded.

Fred glared and mouthed, "traitor".

"Roxanna Weasley, and it's nice to meet you," she introduced herself. I chuckled when I saw Fred mimicking her silently and making different expressions.

"Ignore him. I do."

"You wound me." Fred put his hand on his heart and faked being hurt. A big grin formed on my face when I saw his pouty one.

"Where? Let me add salt to that," Roxy exclaimed, and everyone laughed.

"Where's Molls?" Frank asked and Roxy stared at him with an unknown expression before replying.

"Library."

"I'm surprised that you're not there, Frankie," Fred smirked at Frank who shrugged.

"It's dinner."

I concentrated on my plate when my brother and his friend started eating. I was almost over when I heard someone behind me.

"I am late. I got distracted. Tell me you saved some for me."

I turned around and froze when I saw the boy standing behind me.

"YOU!"

* * *

**Well let me know what you think with your reviews as to whether you like this or not – really appreciate all feedback.**


	6. Chapter 6: Pain

**Here is another chapter. This is the last chapter in the first year after this there will be leap of few years.**

* * *

I backed away up to the limit I could without falling off the seat and stared at his irritated face and glaring eyes.

Standing infront of me is none other than the boy from the passage way.

One - whom I had disturbed and by his expression he's totally pissed.

"What are you doing here?"

Isn't it obvious, I am not playing Quidditch sitting on the dining table? Duh.

His eyes widened but they narrowed fiercely.

Did I say it out loud?

"Yes, you did," I heard Al's answer from behind. He chuckled lightly and it brought a grin on my face which faltered when the person standing infront of me started taking deep breaths trying to calm down. It was not helping him much, I concluded by his frustrated face.

"What I mean is why are you sitting here, not there?" He pointed at the Hufflepuff table.

"Um... because I can. There is no rule that declines any student from sitting on other house table," I stated.

"Except on the Welcome feast and End of term feast." Rose added and I smiled at her and nodded.

"Where did you hear that?" Al questioned us both.

"Hogwarts a History," Rose replied and I nodded.

"Seriously, who reads that book?" Fred asked shrugging.

"I do," Scorpius added. Frank nodded.

"And here I thought you were good, Malfoy. Five points from Slytherin." Fred imitated the voice of McGonagall.

"Hey, you can't take points for reading a book." Al yelled and Roxy chuckled.

"Al, he can't take points from any house. He's not a prefect. He is just teasing."

"Oh!"

"Let's not change the topic. Why?" The boy cut Roxy off.

"James, cool down," Frank said looking at him.

"James," Something clicked in my mind. "as in James Potter." I asked.

I saw everyone nod and my face turned sour. I whipped my head to him and glared back at him furiously. His expression changed to confusion on seeing my glare.

"Not that it's not entertaining because it is, but why are you guys glaring at each other?" Al questioned looking from me to James Potter.

"He's the one from the passageway." I said out loud and the reaction was instant. Al, Rose and Dom burst out laughing.

"What?" Fred asked eager to know the reason of the howling.

"It looks like Evie here disturbed James's special lesson." Al teased James who glared at me.

"No way!" Fred exclaimed and the howled out laughing.

"Looks like you have met each other," Alex sighed and I snorted. He wanted his best friend and his younger sister to be friends with each other and here we are.

"Oh, yeah!"

"You know her," James asked turning to Alex.

"He has known me longer than you. I am his sister," I replied and I saw the great James Potter halt in his actions.

"She is your sister." Alex nodded.

"You're a Hufflepuff." Potter asked.

I am going to call him Potter now because I don't particularly like him.

"Aren't Hufflepuff supposed to be sweet?" he questioned frowning a little. At his question, my great friends and my brother burst out laughing.

"Sweet. She's the definition of sweet." Alex joked and I turned to him.

"Oh, really. So you think I am rude and violent." I hissed ad he flinched back.

"Come on, Eves. I didn't mean it that way," he whined. I just glared back to take mickey of him.

"Nah she's not violent. She's nosy, snappy _and_ violent," I heard Potter adding his thoughts.

"Who asked your opinion so high so almighty James Sirius Potter," I hissed.

"Are we playing the full name game because I think I would win this one? What's with your name being Evangeline..." I pulled out my wand fast from my pocket and aimed it at him.

"Don't use my full name," I gritted through my teeth. His confusion changed into an evil gleam and I cursed myself for giving away a weakness I had.

"Do you even know how to use that? It's just your first day." He taunted me and I scowled.

"_Rictumsempra,_" I yelled the spell that came first to my mind.

"Protego," I watched my spell being deflected by his shield.

Shit, he knows shield charm.

Of course, he knows. He's a Potter.

"Nice, but not enough." He smirked.

"C'mon, it's a nice name." Potter chuckled, his smirk contradicting his words, and I clenched my hands into fist tightly.

"Don't..." It was best to give him warning but he totally ignored my hissing and narrowed eyes.

"Alex, what was the name. Yeah – Evangeline Nightingale Feather," his teasing snapped me and I feel myself getting enraged by his usage of my full name. With so much fury in me, I moved forward and punched him in the face. The sound of his nose breaking gave me a lot satisfaction and it almost made me forget the pain of my broken knuckles.

"What the hell?" Potter spat out and then glared at him.

"I told you not to use it," I hissed, a little satisfied by seeing the blood dripping from his nose.

"So you will go all psycho on me," he snapped.

"I am not crazy, I warned you." I retorted back.

"Mr. Potter and Miss. Feather," I turned to see Headmistress marching towards. Potter groaned and I soon realized the reason.

"In my whole I haven't seen such kind of violence. Firstly, duelling while dinner and then muggle fighting on the first day."

"Professor she hit me." Potter tried to blame it all on me.

"I am sure Mr. Potter you are not innocent enough to not to be blamed. Twenty points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Detention tomorrow night." She glared at us. I stood shamefaced.

"No!"

I was horrified. I had not only lost points from my house but I had just got a detention on the first day. It was bad, very bad.

"Mr. Potter, go to infirmary and you too, Miss Feather." She said, her eyes showing a little concern for us.

"Damn," Potter cursed when Headmistress left.

Fred started laughing.

"You have made a record. Detention on first day, you need to do same thing next year to make hat trick." Fred told James, his eyes praising him. Potter scowled but then he grinned.

"Phew, at least she didn't send home an owl. Mum will kill me if she got one again on the first day." Potter mumbled while I stood ashamed of my behaviour.

A little.

"I got detention on my first day," I mumbled and it was more like I was having a panic attack.

"It's okay Evie. Some get it. My uncles had records of them but even they didn't get detention on first day. Nice," Al tried to assure me but he himself was a little impressed.

"Al, it's not making her feel better," Scorpius shook his head.

"C'mon, your hand needs to be looked."

It took only two minutes for Madam Pomphrey to heal my hand and make it fit as new.

_"Mommy!"_

_A little girl was playing in the garden and trying to get the attention of her mother. Her long shiny platinum blonde hair flowing down her back like waterfall, her pale skin was soft and beautiful and white like winter snow. Her eyes focussed on the woman standing with her back to her. _

_The woman with shoulder brown hair turned around to look at her daughter and gasped. Her green eyes meeting the purple one, shining like Amethyst stone_. _But the cause of surprise was the scene infront of her._

_The two years old girl was grinning and clapping and with her, the yellow leaves of autumn hovered in air surrounding the little girl like a shield preventing any one from passing. The leaves flew up in the air and fell whenever she clapped and then rose again when she clapped again._

_"LEE!"_

The headache on the next day was worse. I felt like small little needles were piercing my head and hurting me. The fact that my hand felt a little sore was not helping the case.

"Evie, are you alright?"

The question was frustrating me and I was biting my lips whole day to stop myself from snapping at someone. My performance was affected too. I was unable to transfigure a match into needle even a little.

"Ready for your first detention?" Al asked rubbing his hands with gleam and I scowled.

"Wow, I have great friends," My sarcasm only widened his smile into grin.

"C'mon, you are the first one of us to get a detention. You will be leading us to this great adventure." Others shook their head on his drama.

"Al, please, let me eat. I have only twenty... Shit I have to go, only ten minutes left," I picked a small piece of roast and rushed to Filch's office. Professor McMillan had informed me that I would be cleaning trophies in the trophy room without any magic.

"So, how was the day Evangeline," Potter asked when he saw me and glared at him.

"Don't call me that," I hissed. He grinned and shrugged.

"It's your name."

I bit on my bottom lips so hard that I could almost taste the blood. Fighting with him would only result in loss and I was not looking for an array of detentions in my first year.

I silently picked up the cloth and started cleaning from the right side of the room. Potter followed me and started on the left side one. As the time passed, the tiredness was increasing the ache in my head and I winced a little but carried on.

"Are you okay?" Potter asked a little concerned about me. My lie was cut off by the piercing pain in my head.

I felt like my body was engulfed in flames, being pierced at every inch with blades coated in acid. The pain was blinding, my ears started ringing with the sound of anguished screams. It took a little time to realize that it was my own voice. I clutched my head with hands trying to stop the pain. Tears were falling in thick streams down my face and I could do nothing to stop them.

I wanted this pain to stop. Someone to help me and save me but it didn't stop.

The pain was ripping and tearing apart my head, I felt like someone was trying to pull out my brains from my head and was fitting a new one. I opened my eyes trying to seek some help, even though they felt like they were bleeding instead of dripping tears.

I saw an unfamiliar faces hovering over me, yelling something, but I was far beyond to recognize the words.

My eyes rolled back into my head and I twisted and writhed on the floor in futile attempts to extinguish the overwhelming waves of torture.

It felt like I was dying.

Just as soon as the torture had begun, it ended, and I was panting on the floor and my vision blackened.

The pain was gone and I thought of opening my eyes and I did and realized that I was in the hospital wing.

I felt sore, my throat hurt from all the screaming, but it was bearable.

"James said that you were screaming like someone used Cruciatus curse on you," Al commented, his eyes filled with concern and sympathy.

"I can't..." Scorpius gulped and looked at me with tear filled eyes. "The look on Potter's face was indescribable. I thought we had lost you."

I stared in his eyes and sighed and closed them trying to calm myself.

But as soon as closed my eyes, the pain started again. This time it was the worst yet. The torment had intensified. This was not just pain - that was too small a word.

This pain was beyond torture, beyond agony.

I could hear my own screams echoing sickeningly off the walls of the room. I felt large arms around me and realized someone scooped me in their arms but even then it didn't stop. I screamed in the stranger's hold, because this torment was still there.

Screaming looked like the only option, in hope to deafen this hell.

Then the pain ceased. I started sobbing again, and curled myself in a tight ball and clutching my head tightly. Even if the pain was gone, it couldn't stop the shaking. I couldn't stop the shaking of my body and I doubted I'd ever stop.

I couldn't do anything but let myself to drown in the blackness that was around me.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was white ceiling. It took me a little to realize I was in infirmary.

"Stop pacing Scorpius, you will dig a hole in the floor," I heard a familiar voice. Al.

"She will be ok. Don't worry," I was sure of this one. Rose.

"Al, she's awake," I heard Scorpius's voice and turned to his anxious but smiling face.

"Wow, welcome back to the living." Al grinned and I smiled back.

"What happened?" I groaned out but before anyone could reply, Madam Pomphrey came bustling into the room, carrying some potions.

"Drink this it will decrease the pain in the head," I looked at the purple color potion in the phial and hesitated to drink it. I wished it wouldn't taste as horrible as it looked. "Today's children don't take care of themselves." she complained and narrowed her eyes at me. "Drink it, Ms Feather."

I gulped down the potion realizing it tasted worse than it looked. I gagged but didn't throw up.

After few more potions which I gulped down without any thoughts, Madam Pomphrey went to her office not before give an ultimatum of tem minutes to my friends.

"Was it good?" Al asked, a smirk plastered on his face and I glared at him.

"It was torture." I sighed. "What happened?"

"You had the detention last night. No one knows what happened but you started screaming clutching your head. It was horrible," Rose whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

With her words, memories came back to me. The pain, the fight, and the strange dream.

I sighed. "I am fine. There's nothing to worry now. It was just a little headache," I lied.

_ "James said that you were screaming like someone used Cruciatus curse on you," Al commented, his eyes filled with concern and sympathy._

_"I can't..." Scorpius gulped and looked at me with tear filled eyes. "The look on Potter's face was indescribable. I thought we had lost you."_

I was taken aback by their words. It felt like déjà-vu. I had dreamt about this and how could it be real. I pinched myself and yelled when it hurt.

"What?" I asked when everyone gave me weird expression.

"Are you sure that your mental balance is not disturbed by the last night accident?" Al teased and I scowled at him.

"I am fine, Albus."

After few minutes madam Pomphrey came and shooed everyone out.

"Madam, I need to talk to Scorpius about my brother, can I?" I requested and she nodded.

"Five minutes."

Scorpius stopped and other carried on without him. I looked around and realized that the hospital wing was empty except us.

"What's the problem?" Scorpius asked knowing I was lying.

"Hmm..." I hesitated. My question was weird but I trusted Scorpius. I knew he would help me and won't tease me about it.

"What's the magical term for psychic?"


End file.
